Hide and Seek
by Gossamer Seeds
Summary: Post game spoilers. Joshua plays a rather one-sided game of Hide and Seek with Neku.


**A/N Cross-posted like woah. This has been sitting around my phone for quite a while and I've been debating for a long time whether I should post it up or not considering that there are a great many things about it that I'm worried about, like whether it was alright that I didn't mention Joshua by name throughout the entire fic (which honestly made writing this a huge pain-), but I wanted to preserve Neku's dialogue choice during the very last cut scene of the game, where similarly, Neku never referred to him by name either.**

**But then again, I decided to just post it at the risk of sounding dumb and gather some feedback— A bit of a warning though, this hasn't been beta'd as my lovely beta hasn't played the game yet and I'm doing my best to stop myself from spoiling it for her** **, so I apologise in advance.**

**Also, this fic is gen, but if you have your shipping goggles on, you can probably see some Neku/Josh**

* * *

Sometimes on rainy days, Neku catches a glimpse of a shadow sitting on the roof of Pork City.

Of course, he knows who that is. The entrance to the roof is always sealed and no human could've climbed that structure without slipping and falling to their deaths.

No human.

On Monday, it's there again, sitting atop the building and gazing out into the city. Neku's standing in the crowd, umbrella in hand at the crossing as sheets of rain cascade down into the streets. Still, despite the rain, he watches as people pass him by, making annoyed remarks about how much of a nuisance he is being just by standing there, unmoving.

Then some guy in a suit shoves past him in a particularly rough fashion and the teen stumbles, regains his balance and returns his gaze to the towering structure.

The shadow is gone without a trace, leaving Neku wondering if it had been really there in the first place.

Normally, he'd ignore it. Just walk past as if there wasn't anything up there. However, that day, he felt something different in the energy of Shibuya. Every city has a mood, and if Neku were to tack one onto Shibuya, it would be 'playful' or perhaps 'mischievous'; just like its master.

Today though, it's 'frightened'.

* * *

He always appears wherever Neku doesn't want to see him.

Sometimes in school, when learning about Polygons becomes unbearably boring, he glances out the window only to see pale locks flash past his vision even though his classroom is on the 3rd floor.

But it's not like anyone else can see it. Nobody ever does. Not the teacher, not the class president, not even Shiki, who's in the same class as him, nor Beat, who he likes to hang out with after school, and not even smart little Rhyme, who comes to visit after her classes in the Middle School division.

Time after time, Neku endlessly repeats 'Did you see that?' or 'How could you have missed that?' over and over again like some broken tape recorder and after a particularly obvious occurrence does Neku realise that he is the only one who's supposed to notice.

* * *

It's a Wednesday when the routine crumbles.

It doesn't take good eyesight to spot him when he's on edge. For someone who hides so well behind a mask of amiability, he's crap at hiding his anxiety.

He's leaning against the entrance of Towa Records chewing absently on his no doubt expensive Pegaso nails. The fingers of his other hand that are cradling his elbow tap out an erratic beat as he stares intently into the crowd.

He doesn't seem to have noticed Neku yet, but Neku sure as hell has noticed him.

Neku turns his gaze curiously to where he had just been looking only to find nothing.

The teen squints at the spot in confusion when suddenly he's blinded by a flash of light as two people, a guy and a girl, appear out of thin air.

Shocked, Neku turns instinctively to the other boy, who doesn't look the least bit surprised.

It's rather belatedly that Neku realises he's witnessing a game and- of course the instigator of it wouldn't be surprised, stupid.

However, there is shock present in the other's violet eyes when he notices Neku staring after a while, as if he hadn't intended to be seen in the first place, and, despite the raging hurricane of words and questions that flood Neku's mind and threaten to spill from his lips like a dam's been broken the second they make eye contact-the 'whys', the 'hows', the 'what the fucks' dancing upon the tip of his tongue— Neku says absolutely nothing.

Then the moment's gone as he runs a hand through his tastefully mussed hair and composes himself quickly, flashing a quick smirk at Neku-as if he'd planned the whole thing, that pompous douchebag- before vanishing entirely.

When Neku glances back into the street, the two players are gone as well.

* * *

The appearances become more obvious on Thursday.

Regardless, Neku won't play along with his games anymore. Wasn't three times enough?

* * *

Sometimes, instead of seeing things, Neku hears instead.

It's not always him. Sometimes it's the croaking of a Frog Noise making itself known or the whooshing of wings as a reaper takes to the sky, proving that those thin skeletal frames aren't just for show.

But most of the time, it's him. A whispered word, a quiet giggle, whatever it may be it's a sound that ruins his day.

Here's what he often hears:

"Morning dear", "My, the same brand again today? How tasteless", "Did you miss me?"

And this is what he hears on Friday:

"Goodbye."

* * *

Saturday is startlingly silent.

* * *

Shibuya is different on Sunday.

There's nothing wrong physically, but the vibe Neku gets is different, which makes him wonder if he's going insane.

But for some reason, it's not something he can push to the back of his mind this time. There's something nagging at him, and that something screams 'It's not right!'

So he pays a visit to WildKat, like how he usually does when his problems involve the supernatural.

What he finds at the normally desolate cafe is, much to his surprise, someone other than the owner.

Sitting at the counter is a young adult, no doubt older than him by a few years, a cup of WildKat's overpriced coffee in his hand. Hanekoma is standing behind the counter, no trace of the man's usual whimsy upon his grim countenance.

"Customers, Mr. H?" Neku starts, his tone slightly joking in an attempt to lighten the mood. "That's rare."

"He's no customer, kid." says Hanekoma, his voice startlingly quiet. There's hesitation before Hanekoma continues, as if it physically pains him to say,

"He's the new composer."

And something in Neku shatters


End file.
